Enhanced connection release techniques for wireless communications systems

ABSTRACT

Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A user equipment (UE) may receive, from a base station, control signaling for communications in a wireless communications system. The control signaling may indicate a first duration for an inactivity timer. The UE may initiate the inactivity timer and a second timer based on identifying a period of inactivity. The second timer may have a second duration that is shorter than the first duration for the inactivity timer. In some examples, the second duration may be based on one or more parameters, such as a display status, a battery status, a scaling factor, the first duration, an application state, or any combination thereof. The UE may release a connection for the communications in the wireless communications system based on an expiration of the second timer, an expiration of the inactivity timer, or a combination thereof.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

The present Application for Patent is a continuation of U.S. Pat.Application No. 17/351,999 by Lee et al., entitled “ENHANCED CONNECTIONRELEASE TECHNIQUES FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS” and filed Jun.18, 2021, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Pat. ApplicationNo. 63/053,306 by Lee et al., entitled “ENHANCED CONNECTION RELEASETECHNIQUES FOR WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS” and filed Jul. 17, 2020,each of which is assigned to the assignee hereof and each of which isexpressly incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The following relates generally to wireless communications and morespecifically to enhanced connection release techniques for wirelesscommunications systems.

BACKGROUND

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide varioustypes of communication content such as voice, video, packet data,messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable ofsupporting communication with multiple users by sharing the availablesystem resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of suchmultiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such asLong Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, orLTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may bereferred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employtechnologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time divisionmultiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA),orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discreteFourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing(DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system mayinclude one or more base stations or one or more network access nodes,each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communicationdevices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).

A UE and a base station may communicate in a wireless communicationssystem. However, some such communications may be relatively inefficient.For example, the UE and the base station may not have further data tocommunicate, but the connection may be maintained for a relatively longtime. Such examples may result in inefficient power usage and poorresource utilization.

SUMMARY

The described techniques relate to improved methods, systems, devices,and apparatuses that support enhanced connection release techniques forwireless communications systems. Generally, the described techniquesenable a user equipment (UE) to implement one or more timers forefficient and reliable connection release with a base station. Forexample, the UE may identify a period of inactivity (e.g., the UE mayfinish transmitting or receiving a data communication and the UE mayfail to identify further scheduled, received, or to-be transmittedcommunications). The UE may initiate one or more timers based on theidentified period of inactivity. For example, the UE may initiate a datainactivity timer with a first duration configured by control signalingfrom the base station. Additionally or alternatively, the UE mayinitiate a second timer (e.g., an idle timer) with a second duration(e.g., shorter than the first duration).

The UE may release a connection with the base station based on anexpiration of the data inactivity timer, an expiration of the secondtimer, or a combination thereof. For example, the UE may identify atrigger (e.g., an expiration of the second timer) and transmit an uplinkmessage indicating a request to release the connection. In someexamples, the UE may transmit a threshold quantity of such uplinkmessages, for example, in accordance with a third timer (e.g., the UEmay refrain from transmitting a subsequent uplink message for a thirdduration of the third timer). The UE may monitor for a downlink messagefrom the base station enabling the UE to release the connection based ontransmitting the one or more uplink messages. In some examples, the UEmay receive the downlink message and release the connection. In someother examples, the UE may fail to receive the downlink message. In suchexamples, the UE may refrain from transmitting further uplink messagesand the UE may release the connection upon expiration of the datainactivity timer.

A method of wireless communications at a UE is described. The method mayinclude receiving, from a base station, control signaling forcommunications in a wireless communications system, the controlsignaling indicating a first duration for an inactivity timer,initiating the inactivity timer and a second timer based on a period ofinactivity, the second timer having a second duration that is shorterthan the first duration for the inactivity timer, and transmitting,based on an expiration of the second timer, a first uplink messageindicating a request to release a connection for the communications inthe wireless communications system.

An apparatus for wireless communications at a UE is described. Theapparatus may include at least one processor, memory coupled (e.g.,operatively, communicatively, functionally, electronically, orelectrically) to with the at least one processor, and instructionsstored in the memory. The instructions may be executable by the at leastone processor to cause the apparatus to receive, from a base station,control signaling for communications in a wireless communicationssystem, the control signaling indicating a first duration for aninactivity timer, initiate the inactivity timer and a second timer basedon a period of inactivity, the second timer having a second durationthat is shorter than the first duration for the inactivity timer, andtransmit, based on an expiration of the second timer, a first uplinkmessage indicating a request to release a connection for thecommunications in the wireless communications system.

Another apparatus for wireless communications at a UE is described. Theapparatus may include means for receiving, from a base station, controlsignaling for communications in a wireless communications system, thecontrol signaling indicating a first duration for an inactivity timer,means for initiating the inactivity timer and a second timer based on aperiod of inactivity, the second timer having a second duration that isshorter than the first duration for the inactivity timer, and means fortransmitting, based on an expiration of the second timer, a first uplinkmessage indicating a request to release a connection for thecommunications in the wireless communications system.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wirelesscommunications at a UE is described. The code may include instructionsexecutable by at least one processor to receive, from a base station,control signaling for communications in a wireless communicationssystem, the control signaling indicating a first duration for aninactivity timer, initiate the inactivity timer and a second timer basedon a period of inactivity, the second timer having a second durationthat is shorter than the first duration for the inactivity timer, andtransmit, based on an expiration of the second timer, a first uplinkmessage indicating a request to release a connection for thecommunications in the wireless communications system.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for initiating a thirdtimer based on transmitting the first uplink message, and monitoring,for a third duration of the third timer, for a downlink message from thebase station based on transmitting the first uplink message.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving the downlinkmessage from the base station based on the monitoring, where releasingthe connection for the communications may be based on receiving thedownlink message.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for identifying anexpiration of the third timer, and transmitting a second uplink messageindicating the request to release the connection based on the expirationof the third timer and failing to receive the downlink message in thethird duration of the third timer.

In some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein, the first uplink messageincludes a UE assistance information message, the third timer includes arelease preference prohibit timer, the downlink message includes a radioresource control message, the control signaling indicates the thirdduration of the third timer, or any combination thereof.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for identifying theexpiration of the inactivity timer, where releasing the connection forthe communications may be in response to the expiration of theinactivity timer.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for transmitting a quantityof uplink messages each indicating a respective request to release theconnection, restarting the inactivity timer after each of the quantityof uplink messages, identifying that the quantity of uplink messagessatisfies a threshold, and refraining from transmitting an additionaluplink message indicating the request to release the connection based onidentifying that the quantity of uplink messages satisfies thethreshold, where identifying the expiration of the inactivity timer maybe based on refraining from transmitting the additional uplink message.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for restarting the secondtimer based on transmitting the first uplink message, and transmitting asecond uplink message indicating the request to release the connectionbased on a second expiration of the second timer after restarting thesecond timer, an expiration of a third timer, or a combination thereof.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for applying a scalingfactor to the first duration for the inactivity timer, and determiningthe second duration for the second timer based on applying the scalingfactor to the first duration.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for identifying a maximumduration for the second timer, and comparing the candidate duration tothe maximum duration, where determining the second duration for thesecond timer may be based on the comparing.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for identifying whether adisplay of the UE may be enabled or disabled, where the second durationfor the second timer may be based on whether the display may be enabledor disabled.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for identifying, afterinitiating the second timer, a change in a display status of the UE,where the display status corresponds to whether the display may beenabled or disabled, and adjusting the second duration for the secondtimer based on the change in the display status.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for identifying a status ofa battery for the UE, where the second duration for the second timer maybe based on the status of the battery.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for identifying that anapplication of the UE may be closed based on an identifier of theapplication, where releasing the connection may be based on identifyingthat the application of the UE may be closed.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for initiating the secondtimer may be based on identifying that the application of the UE may beclosed.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for refraining fromtransmitting, in response to the expiration of the second timer, thefirst uplink message indicating the request to release the connectionwhile the application of the UE may be open, and transmitting the firstuplink message based on identifying that the application of the UE maybe closed.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for identifying a thirdduration corresponding to a time until an uplink transmission for anapplication of the UE, determining that the third duration satisfies athreshold duration, and enabling a connection release procedure based onthe third duration satisfying the threshold duration, the connectionrelease procedure including initiating the second timer and transmittingthe first uplink message.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for identifying thethreshold duration based on an application identifier of theapplication, the threshold duration corresponding to a latency toleranceassociated with the application.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for identifying, for a setof multiple applications of the UE, a set of multiple durations eachassociated with a respective time until a respective uplink transmissionfor a respective application of the set of multiple applications, whereidentifying the third duration includes identifying a smallest durationof the set of multiple durations as the third duration.

Some examples of the method, apparatuses, and non-transitorycomputer-readable medium described herein may further includeoperations, features, means, or instructions for receiving, at a modemof the UE from one or more applications of the UE, an indication of thethird duration, an indication of the threshold duration, or anycombination thereof.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a system for wireless communicationsthat supports enhanced connection release techniques for wirelesscommunications systems in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system thatsupports enhanced connection release techniques for wirelesscommunications systems in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 3-5 illustrate examples of timelines that supports enhancedconnection release techniques for wireless communications systems inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a process flow that supports enhancedconnection release techniques for wireless communications systems inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show block diagrams of devices that support enhancedconnection release techniques for wireless communications systems inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram of a communications manager that supportsenhanced connection release techniques for wireless communicationssystems in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 10 shows a diagram of a system including a device that supportsenhanced connection release techniques for wireless communicationssystems in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show flowcharts illustrating methods that supportenhanced connection release techniques for wireless communicationssystems in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A user equipment (UE) and a base station may establish communications ina wireless communications system. For example, the UE may transmit acapability message (e.g., an uplink control message indicating UEcapability information) to the base station. The base station maytransmit control signaling (e.g., radio resource control (RRC)signaling) to the UE in response to the capability message. In someexamples, the control signaling may configure one or more timers. Forexample, the control signaling may configure a data inactivity timer atthe UE. The UE may be configured to release a connection with the basestation upon expiration of the data inactivity timer. However, such adata inactivity timer may result in relatively inefficientcommunications. For example, the UE may be unable to trigger aconnection release procedure and the UE may maintain the communicationslink for a relatively long time, which may result in high processingoverhead and power consumption at the UE, relatively poor resourceutilization in the wireless communications system, or both.

In accordance with the techniques described herein, an idle timer forconnection release procedures may be implemented by a wirelesscommunications system—e.g., in addition to and in some cases concurrentwith the inactivity timer-which may improve communications efficiency(e.g., reduce processing overhead and power usage at the UE 115-a,ensuring reliable communications, among other benefits). For example,the UE may initiate one or more timers after communicating (e.g.,receiving or transmitting) data with a base station (e.g., the UE maystart the one or more timers based on identifying an inactivity periodwithout scheduled communications). The UE may initiate a data inactivitytimer with a first duration configured by control signaling from thebase station (e.g., radio resource control (RRC) signaling may indicatethe first duration). Additionally or alternatively, the UE may initiatean idle timer with a second duration (e.g., shorter than the firstduration). In some examples, the UE may determine the duration of theidle timer based on one or more parameters. For example, the UE mayscale the first duration by a scaling parameter, the UE may identifydifferent durations for different statuses of the UE (e.g., displaystatuses or battery statuses), the UE may identify a minimum of the oneor more parameters to use as the duration, or any combination thereof.

The UE may transmit one or more uplink messages requesting a connectionrelease to the base station based on an expiration of the idle timer,among other examples of triggers (e.g., the UE may initiate the idletimer or transmit an uplink message based on a state of an applicationof the UE). For example, if the UE has not identified communications forthe second duration, the UE may send a UE assistance information (UAI)message with one or more parameters indicating a desired state (e.g., anRRC state of idle, inactive, or out of connected). The UE may monitorfor a downlink message for a duration of a third timer (e.g., the UE mayinitiate a release preference prohibit timer upon transmission of theUAI message) in response to transmitting the uplink message. Forexample, the UE may monitor for an RRC release message indicating torelease the connection (e.g., indicating that the UE may enter thedesired state). In some examples, the UE may receive the downlinkmessage and release the connection in accordance with the downlinkmessage. In some examples, the UE may transmit a second uplink message(e.g., a second UAI message) upon expiration of the third timer, the UEmay restart the third timer based on sending the second uplink message,or both. In some examples, the UE may determine that a quantity ofuplink messages sent to the base station satisfies a threshold. The UEmay refrain from transmitting further UAI messages based on thesatisfied threshold, which may allow the UE to release the connectionbased on an expiration of the data inactivity timer (e.g., by refrainingfrom transmitting UAI messages, the UE may refrain from restarting thedata inactivity timer based on sending a UAI message).

Aspects of the disclosure are initially described in the context ofwireless communications systems. Aspects of the disclosure are thendescribed in the context of timelines and process flows. Aspects of thedisclosure are further illustrated by and described with reference toapparatus diagrams, system diagrams, and flowcharts that relate toenhanced connection release techniques for wireless communicationssystems.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 100that supports enhanced connection release techniques for wirelesscommunications systems in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. The wireless communications system 100 may include one ormore base stations 105, one or more UEs 115, and a core network 130. Insome examples, the wireless communications system 100 may be a Long TermEvolution (LTE) network, an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) network, an LTE-A Pronetwork, or a New Radio (NR) network. In some examples, the wirelesscommunications system 100 may support enhanced broadband communications,ultra-reliable (e.g., mission critical) communications, low latencycommunications, communications with low-cost and low-complexity devices,or any combination thereof.

The base stations 105 may be dispersed throughout a geographic area toform the wireless communications system 100 and may be devices indifferent forms or having different capabilities. The base stations 105and the UEs 115 may wirelessly communicate via one or more communicationlinks 125. Each base station 105 may provide a coverage area 110 overwhich the UEs 115 and the base station 105 may establish one or morecommunication links 125. The coverage area 110 may be an example of ageographic area over which a base station 105 and a UE 115 may supportthe communication of signals according to one or more radio accesstechnologies.

The UEs 115 may be dispersed throughout a coverage area 110 of thewireless communications system 100, and each UE 115 may be stationary,or mobile, or both at different times. The UEs 115 may be devices indifferent forms or having different capabilities. Some example UEs 115are illustrated in FIG. 1 . The UEs 115 described herein may be able tocommunicate with various types of devices, such as other UEs 115, thebase stations 105, or network equipment (e.g., core network nodes, relaydevices, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) nodes, or other networkequipment), as shown in FIG. 1 .

The base stations 105 may communicate with the core network 130, or withone another, or both. For example, the base stations 105 may interfacewith the core network 130 through one or more backhaul links 120 (e.g.,via an S1, N2, N3, or other interface). The base stations 105 maycommunicate with one another over the backhaul links 120 (e.g., via anX2, Xn, or other interface) either directly (e.g., directly between basestations 105), or indirectly (e.g., via core network 130), or both. Insome examples, the backhaul links 120 may be or include one or morewireless links.

One or more of the base stations 105 described herein may include or maybe referred to by a person having ordinary skill in the art as a basetransceiver station, a radio base station, an access point, a radiotransceiver, a NodeB, an eNodeB (eNB), a next-generation NodeB or agiga-NodeB (either of which may be referred to as a gNB), a Home NodeB,a Home eNodeB, or other suitable terminology.

A UE 115 may include or may be referred to as a mobile device, awireless device, a remote device, a handheld device, or a subscriberdevice, or some other suitable terminology, where the “device” may alsobe referred to as a unit, a station, a terminal, or a client, amongother examples. A UE 115 may also include or may be referred to as apersonal electronic device such as a cellular phone, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), a multimedia/entertainment device (e.g., a radio, a MP3player, or a video device), a camera, a gaming device, anavigation/positioning device (e.g., GNSS (global navigation satellitesystem) devices based on, for example, GPS (global positioning system),Beidou, GLONASS, or Galileo, a terrestrial-based device), a tabletcomputer, a laptop computer, a personal computer, a netbook, asmartbook, a personal computer, a smart device, a wearable device (e.g.,a smart watch, smart clothing, smart glasses, virtual reality goggles, asmart wristband, smart jewelry (e.g., a smart ring, a smart bracelet)),a drone, a robot/robotic device, a vehicle, a vehicular device, a meter(e.g., parking meter, electric meter, gas meter, water meter), amonitor, a gas pump, an appliance (e.g., kitchen appliance, washingmachine, dryer), a location tag, a medical/healthcare device, animplant, a sensor/actuator, a display, or any other suitable deviceconfigured to communicate via a wireless or wired medium. In someexamples, a UE 115 may include or be referred to as a wireless localloop (WLL) station, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, an Internet ofEverything (IoE) device, or a machine type communications (MTC) device,or the link, which may be implemented in various articles such asappliance, drones, robots, vehicles, meters, or the like.

The UEs 115 described herein may be able to communicate with varioustypes of devices, such as other UEs 115 that may sometimes act as relaysas well as the base stations 105 and the network equipment includingmacro eNBs or gNBs, small cell eNBs or gNBs, or relay base stations,among other examples, as shown in FIG. 1 .

The UEs 115 and the base stations 105 may wirelessly communicate withone another via one or more communication links 125 over one or morecarriers. The term “carrier” may refer to a set of radio frequencyspectrum resources having a defined physical layer structure forsupporting the communication links 125. For example, a carrier used fora communication link 125 may include a portion of a radio frequencyspectrum band (e.g., a bandwidth part (BWP)) that is operated accordingto one or more physical layer channels for a given radio accesstechnology (e.g., LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, NR). Each physical layerchannel may carry acquisition signaling (e.g., synchronization signals,system information), control signaling that coordinates operation forthe carrier, user data, or other signaling. The wireless communicationssystem 100 may support communication with a UE 115 using carrieraggregation or multi-carrier operation. A UE 115 may be configured withmultiple downlink component carriers and one or more uplink componentcarriers according to a carrier aggregation configuration. Carrieraggregation may be used with both frequency division duplexing (FDD) andtime division duplexing (TDD) component carriers.

Signal waveforms transmitted over a carrier may be made up of multiplesubcarriers (e.g., using multi-carrier modulation (MCM) techniques suchas orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) or discrete Fouriertransform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM)). In a system employing MCMtechniques, a resource element may consist of one symbol period (e.g., aduration of one modulation symbol) and one subcarrier, where the symbolperiod and subcarrier spacing are inversely related. The number of bitscarried by each resource element may depend on the modulation scheme(e.g., the order of the modulation scheme, the coding rate of themodulation scheme, or both). Thus, the more resource elements that a UE115 receives and the higher the order of the modulation scheme, thehigher the data rate may be for the UE 115. A wireless communicationsresource may refer to a combination of a radio frequency spectrumresource, a time resource, and a spatial resource (e.g., spatial layersor beams), and the use of multiple spatial layers may further increasethe data rate or data integrity for communications with a UE 115.

The time intervals for the base stations 105 or the UEs 115 may beexpressed in multiples of a basic time unit which may, for example,refer to a sampling period of T_(s) = 1/(Δƒ_(max) • N_(ƒ)) seconds,where Δƒ_(max) may represent the maximum supported subcarrier spacing,and N_(ƒ) may represent the maximum supported discrete Fourier transform(DFT) size. Time intervals of a communications resource may be organizedaccording to radio frames each having a specified duration (e.g., 10milliseconds (ms)). Each radio frame may be identified by a system framenumber (SFN) (e.g., ranging from 0 to 1023).

Each frame may include multiple consecutively numbered subframes orslots, and each subframe or slot may have the same duration. In someexamples, a frame may be divided (e.g., in the time domain) intosubframes, and each subframe may be further divided into a number ofslots. Alternatively, each frame may include a variable number of slots,and the number of slots may depend on subcarrier spacing. Each slot mayinclude a number of symbol periods (e.g., depending on the length of thecyclic prefix prepended to each symbol period). In some wirelesscommunications systems 100, a slot may further be divided into multiplemini-slots containing one or more symbols. Excluding the cyclic prefix,each symbol period may contain one or more (e.g., N_(ƒ)) samplingperiods. The duration of a symbol period may depend on the subcarrierspacing or frequency band of operation.

A subframe, a slot, a mini-slot, or a symbol may be the smallestscheduling unit (e.g., in the time domain) of the wirelesscommunications system 100 and may be referred to as a transmission timeinterval (TTI). In some examples, the TTI duration (e.g., the number ofsymbol periods in a TTI) may be variable. Additionally or alternatively,the smallest scheduling unit of the wireless communications system 100may be dynamically selected (e.g., in bursts of shortened TTIs (sTTIs)).

Physical channels may be multiplexed on a carrier according to varioustechniques. A physical control channel and a physical data channel maybe multiplexed on a downlink carrier, for example, using one or more oftime division multiplexing (TDM) techniques, frequency divisionmultiplexing (FDM) techniques, or hybrid TDM-FDM techniques. A controlregion (e.g., a control resource set (CORESET)) for a physical controlchannel may be defined by a number of symbol periods and may extendacross the system bandwidth or a subset of the system bandwidth of thecarrier. One or more control regions (e.g., CORESETs) may be configuredfor a set of the UEs 115. For example, one or more of the UEs 115 maymonitor or search control regions for control information according toone or more search space sets, and each search space set may include oneor multiple control channel candidates in one or more aggregation levelsarranged in a cascaded manner. An aggregation level for a controlchannel candidate may refer to a number of control channel resources(e.g., control channel elements (CCEs)) associated with encodedinformation for a control information format having a given payloadsize. Search space sets may include common search space sets configuredfor sending control information to multiple UEs 115 and UE-specificsearch space sets for sending control information to a specific UE 115.

In some examples, a base station 105 may be movable and thereforeprovide communication coverage for a moving geographic coverage area110. In some examples, different geographic coverage areas 110associated with different technologies may overlap, but the differentgeographic coverage areas 110 may be supported by the same base station105. In other examples, the overlapping geographic coverage areas 110associated with different technologies may be supported by differentbase stations 105. The wireless communications system 100 may include,for example, a heterogeneous network in which different types of thebase stations 105 provide coverage for various geographic coverage areas110 using the same or different radio access technologies.

Some UEs 115 may be configured to employ operating modes that reducepower consumption, such as half-duplex communications (e.g., a mode thatsupports one-way communication via transmission or reception, but nottransmission and reception simultaneously). In some examples,half-duplex communications may be performed at a reduced peak rate.Other power conservation techniques for the UEs 115 include entering apower saving deep sleep mode when not engaging in active communications,operating over a limited bandwidth (e.g., according to narrowbandcommunications), or a combination of these techniques. For example, someUEs 115 may be configured for operation using a narrowband protocol typethat is associated with a defined portion or range (e.g., set ofsubcarriers or resource blocks (RBs)) within a carrier, within aguard-band of a carrier, or outside of a carrier.

The wireless communications system 100 may be configured to supportultra-reliable communications or low-latency communications, or variouscombinations thereof. For example, the wireless communications system100 may be configured to support ultra-reliable low-latencycommunications (URLLC) or mission critical communications. The UEs 115may be designed to support ultra-reliable, low-latency, or criticalfunctions (e.g., mission critical functions). Ultra-reliablecommunications may include private communication or group communicationand may be supported by one or more mission critical services such asmission critical push-to-talk (MCPTT), mission critical video (MCVideo),or mission critical data (MCData). Support for mission criticalfunctions may include prioritization of services, and mission criticalservices may be used for public safety or general commercialapplications. The terms ultra-reliable, low-latency, mission critical,and ultra-reliable low-latency may be used interchangeably herein.

Some UEs 115, such as MTC or IoT devices, may be low cost or lowcomplexity devices, and may provide for automated communication betweenmachines (e.g., via Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communication). M2Mcommunication or MTC may refer to data communication technologies thatallow devices to communicate with one another or a base station 105without human intervention. In some examples, M2M communication or MTCmay include communications from devices that integrate sensors or metersto measure or capture information and relay that information to acentral server or application program that can make use of theinformation or present the information to humans interacting with theprogram or application. Some UEs 115 may be designed to collectinformation or enable automated behavior of machines. Examples ofapplications for MTC devices include smart metering, inventorymonitoring, water level monitoring, equipment monitoring, healthcaremonitoring, wildlife monitoring, weather and geological eventmonitoring, fleet management and tracking, remote security sensing,physical access control, and transaction-based business charging. In anaspect, techniques disclosed herein may be applicable to MTC or IoT UEs.MTC or IoT UEs may include MTC/enhanced MTC (eMTC, also referred to asCAT-M, Cat M1) UEs, NB-IoT (also referred to as CAT NB1) UEs, as well asother types of UEs. eMTC and NB-IoT may refer to future technologiesthat may evolve from or may be based on these technologies. For example,eMTC may include FeMTC (further eMTC), eFeMTC (enhanced further eMTC),and mMTC (massive MTC), and NB-IoT may include eNB-IoT (enhancedNB-IoT), and FeNB-IoT (further enhanced NB-IoT).

In some examples, a UE 115 may also be able to communicate directly withother UEs 115 over a device-to-device (D2D) communication link 135(e.g., using a peer-to-peer (P2P) or D2D protocol). One or more UEs 115utilizing D2D communications may be within the geographic coverage area110 of a base station 105. Other UEs 115 in such a group may be outsidethe geographic coverage area 110 of a base station 105 or be otherwiseunable to receive transmissions from a base station 105. In someexamples, groups of the UEs 115 communicating via D2D communications mayutilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE 115 transmits toevery other UE 115 in the group. In some examples, a base station 105facilitates the scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In othercases, D2D communications are carried out between the UEs 115 withoutthe involvement of a base station 105.

The core network 130 may provide user authentication, accessauthorization, tracking, Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity, and otheraccess, routing, or mobility functions. The core network 130 may be anevolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC), which may include at leastone control plane entity that manages access and mobility (e.g., amobility management entity (MME), an access and mobility managementfunction (AMF)) and at least one user plane entity that routes packetsor interconnects to external networks (e.g., a serving gateway (S-GW), aPacket Data Network (PDN) gateway (P-GW), or a user plane function(UPF)). The control plane entity may manage non-access stratum (NAS)functions such as mobility, authentication, and bearer management forthe UEs 115 served by the base stations 105 associated with the corenetwork 130. User IP packets may be transferred through the user planeentity, which may provide IP address allocation as well as otherfunctions. The user plane entity may be connected to the networkoperators IP services 150. The operators IP services 150 may includeaccess to the Internet, Intranet(s), an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS),or a Packet-Switched Streaming Service.

Some of the network devices, such as a base station 105, may includesubcomponents such as an access network entity 140, which may be anexample of an access node controller (ANC). Each access network entity140 may communicate with the UEs 115 through one or more other accessnetwork transmission entities 145, which may be referred to as radioheads, smart radio heads, or transmission/reception points (TRPs). Eachaccess network transmission entity 145 may include one or more antennapanels. In some configurations, various functions of each access networkentity 140 or base station 105 may be distributed across various networkdevices (e.g., radio heads and ANCs) or consolidated into a singlenetwork device (e.g., a base station 105).

The wireless communications system 100 may operate using one or morefrequency bands, typically in the range of 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300gigahertz (GHz). Generally, the region from 300 MHz to 3 GHz is known asthe ultra-high frequency (UHF) region or decimeter band because thewavelengths range from approximately one decimeter to one meter inlength. The UHF waves may be blocked or redirected by buildings andenvironmental features, but the waves may penetrate structuressufficiently for a macro cell to provide service to the UEs 115 locatedindoors. The transmission of UHF waves may be associated with smallerantennas and shorter ranges (e.g., less than 100 kilometers) compared totransmission using the smaller frequencies and longer waves of the highfrequency (HF) or very high frequency (VHF) portion of the spectrumbelow 300 MHz.

The wireless communications system 100 may utilize both licensed andunlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands. For example, the wirelesscommunications system 100 may employ License Assisted Access (LAA),LTE-Unlicensed (LTE-U) radio access technology, or NR technology in anunlicensed band such as the 5 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical(ISM) band. When operating in unlicensed radio frequency spectrum bands,devices such as the base stations 105 and the UEs 115 may employ carriersensing for collision detection and avoidance. In some examples,operations in unlicensed bands may be based on a carrier aggregationconfiguration in conjunction with component carriers operating in alicensed band (e.g., LAA). Operations in unlicensed spectrum may includedownlink transmissions, uplink transmissions, P2P transmissions, or D2Dtransmissions, among other examples.

A base station 105 or a UE 115 may be equipped with multiple antennas,which may be used to employ techniques such as transmit diversity,receive diversity, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications,or beamforming. The antennas of a base station 105 or a UE 115 may belocated within one or more antenna arrays or antenna panels, which maysupport MIMO operations or transmit or receive beamforming. For example,one or more base station antennas or antenna arrays may be co-located atan antenna assembly, such as an antenna tower. In some examples,antennas or antenna arrays associated with a base station 105 may belocated in diverse geographic locations. A base station 105 may have anantenna array with a number of rows and columns of antenna ports thatthe base station 105 may use to support beamforming of communicationswith a UE 115. Likewise, a UE 115 may have one or more antenna arraysthat may support various MIMO or beamforming operations. Additionally oralternatively, an antenna panel may support radio frequency beamformingfor a signal transmitted via an antenna port.

Beamforming, which may also be referred to as spatial filtering,directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signalprocessing technique that may be used at a transmitting device or areceiving device (e.g., a base station 105, a UE 115) to shape or steeran antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatialpath between the transmitting device and the receiving device.Beamforming may be achieved by combining the signals communicated viaantenna elements of an antenna array such that some signals propagatingat particular orientations with respect to an antenna array experienceconstructive interference while others experience destructiveinterference. The adjustment of signals communicated via the antennaelements may include a transmitting device or a receiving deviceapplying amplitude offsets, phase offsets, or both to signals carriedvia the antenna elements associated with the device. The adjustmentsassociated with each of the antenna elements may be defined by abeamforming weight set associated with a particular orientation (e.g.,with respect to the antenna array of the transmitting device orreceiving device, or with respect to some other orientation).

The wireless communications system 100 may be a packet-based networkthat operates according to a layered protocol stack. In the user plane,communications at the bearer or Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP)layer may be IP-based. A Radio Link Control (RLC) layer may performpacket segmentation and reassembly to communicate over logical channels.A Medium Access Control (MAC) layer may perform priority handling andmultiplexing of logical channels into transport channels. The MAC layermay also use error detection techniques, error correction techniques, orboth to support retransmissions at the MAC layer to improve linkefficiency. In the control plane, the RRC protocol layer may provideestablishment, configuration, and maintenance of an RRC connectionbetween a UE 115 and a base station 105 or a core network 130 supportingradio bearers for user plane data. At the physical layer, transportchannels may be mapped to physical channels.

In some examples, devices of the wireless communications system 100 mayimplement one or more timers as described herein. For example, a UE 115may receive control signaling from a base station 105 establishingcommunications (e.g., RRC signaling indicating a duration of a datainactivity timer). The UE 115 may identify a period of inactivity (e.g.,the UE 115 may finish transmitting or receiving a data communication andthe UE may fail to identify further scheduled communications). The UE115 may initiate one or more timers based on the identified period ofinactivity. For example, the UE 115 may initiate a data inactivity timerwith a first duration. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 115 mayinitiate a second timer (e.g., an idle timer) with a second duration(e.g., shorter than the first duration). In some examples, the UE 115may identify the duration of the idle timer based on one or moreparameters. For example, the UE 115 may scale the first duration by ascaling parameter, the UE 115 may identify different durations fordifferent statuses of the UE 115 (e.g., display statuses or batterystatuses), the UE 115 may identify a minimum of the one or moreparameters to use as the duration, or any combination thereof.

The UE 115 may release a connection with the base station 105 based onan expiration of the data inactivity timer, an expiration of the secondtimer, or a combination thereof. For example, the UE 115 may identify atrigger (e.g., an expiration of the second timer) and transmit an uplinkmessage indicating a request to release the connection. In someexamples, the UE 115 may transmit a threshold quantity of such uplinkmessages, for example, in accordance with a third timer (e.g., the UE115 may refrain from transmitting a subsequent uplink message for athird duration of the third timer). The UE 115 may monitor for adownlink message from the base station enabling the UE 115 to releasethe connection based on transmitting the one or more uplink messages. Insome examples, the UE 115 may receive the downlink message and releasethe connection. In some other examples, the UE 115 may fail to receivethe downlink message. In such examples, the UE may refrain fromtransmitting further uplink messages (e.g., based on the quantity of theone or more uplink messages satisfying a threshold) and the UE 115 mayrelease the connection upon expiration of the data inactivity timer.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a wireless communications system 200that supports enhanced connection release techniques for wirelesscommunications systems in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. In some examples, the wireless communications system 200 mayimplement aspects of wireless communication system 100. For example, thewireless communications system 200 includes UE 115-a and base station105-a, which may be examples of the corresponding devices described withreference to FIG. 1 .

The UE 115-a and the base station 105-a may communicate using one ormore downlink transmissions 205 and uplink transmissions 210. Forexample, the base station 105-a may send the downlink transmissions 205to the UE 115-a. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 115-a may sendthe uplink transmissions 210 to the base station 105-a. A downlinktransmission 205 may include one or more downlink messages 215 and anuplink transmission 210 may include one or more uplink messages 220.

In some examples, the base station 105-a and the UE 115-a may establishcommunications. For example, the UE 115-a may transmit a capabilitymessage to the base station 105-a (e.g., a UECapabilityInformationmessage). In some examples, the capability message may indicate arelease parameter (e.g., release-Preference field in the capabilitymessage indicating a capability of the UE 115-a to enter one or more RRCstates). The base station 105-a may transmit control signaling to the UE115-a to establish the communications. For example, the base station maytransmit an RRC message (e.g., an RRC Reconfiguration message) inresponse to the capability message. In some examples, the RRC messagemay include configuration information for establishing thecommunications. For example, one or more RRC messages may indicate oneor more timers. As one example, an RRC message may include configurationinformation indicating a release preference prohibit timer (e.g., an RRCreconfiguration message may include anotherConfig(releasePreferenceConfig(releasePreferenceProhibitTimer))field configuring the release preference prohibit timer with aduration), among other examples of configuration information. Forexample, the base station 105-a may configure the UE 115-a for sendingrelease assistance messages, such as UAI messages, using the RRCreconfiguration message (e.g., in addition to the configuration of therelease preference prohibit timer) using a setup option (e.g.,SetupRelease {ReleasePreferenceConfig}), among other examples. In somecases, the release preference prohibit timer may be referred to hereinas a “T346f” timer or a third timer.

Additionally or alternatively, an RRC message may include configurationinformation indicating a data inactivity timer. For example, an RRCreconfiguration message or a RRC Setup message may include a setuprelease configuration indicating a duration of the data inactivity timer(e.g., a RRCSetup(SetupRelease {DatalnactivityTimer}) field may beincluded in the RRC message indicating a duration of the data inactivitytimer, such as 1, 2, ..., 150, or 180 seconds, among other examples ofdurations).

In some examples, the UE 115-a may release a connection with the basestation 105-a based on an expiration of the data inactivity timer. Forexample, the base station 105-a may configure the data inactivity timerat a first time. The UE 115-a and the base station 105-a may communicatedata using the established connection (e.g., the UE 115-a may send oneor more uplink transmissions 210 to the base station 105-a or the basestation 105-a may send one or more downlink transmissions 205 to the UE115-a). The UE 115-a may identify an inactivity period and initiate thedata inactivity timer. For example, the UE 115-a may finish a datacommunication with the base station 105-a (e.g., the UE 115-a maytransmit or receive data via scheduled resources) and the UE 115-a maynot have further data to communicate (e.g., the UE 115-a may identifythat there are no further scheduled data communications or that the UE115-a does not have data to communicate to the base station 105-a). TheUE 115-a may initiate the data inactivity timer based on finishing thedata communication. The UE 115-a may maintain the communication linkwith the base station 105-a for a duration of the data inactivity timer.For example, the UE 115-a may monitor for downlink messages 215 (e.g.,downlink control information scheduling data communications, or RRCsignaling) from the base station 105-a while the data inactivity timeris running. The UE 115-a may release the connection with the basestation 105-a upon expiration of the data inactivity timer (e.g., the UE115-a may release the connection autonomously if the UE 115-a does notidentify data or receive RRC messages for the duration of the datainactivity timer).

In some examples, the UE 115-a may be configured to send an uplinkmessage 220 in order to initiate a connection release. For example, theUE 115-a may transmit a UAI message including one or more fieldsindicating a request of a desired state to release a connection with thebase station 105-a (e.g., the UE 115-a may send a UAI message includinga releasePreference(preferredRRC-State) field indicating a request toenter an idle state, an inactive state, or an out of connected state).The UE 115-a may initiate the release preference prohibit timer based onsending the uplink message 220. For example, the UE 115-a may refrainfrom transmitting another UAI message for a duration of the releasepreference prohibit timer (e.g., 0 seconds, 0.5 seconds, 1 seconds, 20seconds, 30 seconds, among other examples of durations).

The UE 115-a may monitor for a downlink message 215 from the basestation 105-a until an expiration of the release preference prohibittimer. In some examples, the base station 105-a may transmit thedownlink message 215 in response to the uplink message 220. For example,the base station 105-a may transmit an RRC release message indicating tothe UE 115-a to release the connection (e.g., the RRC release messagemay include an optional suspendConfig field indicating to release theRRC connection to let the UE 115-a enter an idle or inactive state,among other examples of fields). The UE 115-a may release the connectionbased on receiving the RRC release message (e.g., the UE 115-a may enteran indicated idle, inactive, or out of connected state).

In some cases, the UE 115-a may be unable to trigger transmission ofsuch UAI messages to request connection release. Additionally, if the UE115-a is configured with the data inactivity timer, the UE 115-a mayrestart the data inactivity timer each time a UAI message is sent, whichmay result in relatively inefficient connection release procedures. Forexample, if the UE 115-a continues transmitting UAI messages and failsto receive corresponding connection release messages from the basestation 105-a, the UE 115-a may be unable to release the connectionbased on an expiration of the data inactivity timer (e.g., the datainactivity timer may fail to expire due to being reset at each of theUAI messages).

In accordance with the techniques described herein, the UE 115-a mayimplement an idle timer for performing one or more connection releaseprocedures (e.g., triggering transmission of a UAI message), which mayresult in relatively more efficient power usage at the UE 115-a, amongother benefits. In some cases, the idle timer may be referred to hereinas a second timer. The UE 115-a may initiate the idle timer based onidentifying an inactivity period. For example, the UE 115-a may not havefurther data to receive or transmit with the base station 105-a and theUE 115-a may start the idle timer, the data inactivity timer, or both.The UE 115-a may transmit one or more uplink messages 220 based on anexpiration of the idle timer. As an illustrative example, the UE 115-amay maintain the communication link with the base station 105-a for aduration of the idle timer. The UE 115-a may monitor for downlinkmessages 215 (e.g., downlink control information scheduling datacommunications or RRC signaling) from the base station 105-a while theidle timer is running. The UE 115-a may transmit a UAI messagerequesting a connection release (e.g., indicating a desired RRC state)upon expiration of the idle timer. The UE 115-a may monitor for adownlink message 215 releasing the UE 115-a from the connection inresponse to the UAI message.

The idle timer may have a duration shorter than a duration of the datainactivity timer, which may result in relatively more efficientcommunications. For example, a shorter idle timer duration may enablethe UE 115-a to attempt to release the connection via a downlink message215 from the base station 105-a (e.g., a network commanded release basedon transmitting a UAI message upon expiration of the idle timer) ratherthan an autonomous connection release (e.g., due to an expiration of thedata inactivity timer). Thus, the base station 105-a may be aware of theconnection release and schedule further communications accordingly,which may result in reduced signaling overhead (e.g., the base station105-a may avoid attempting to communicate with the UE 115-a due to beingaware of the connection release), among other benefits.

In some examples, the idle timer may be configurable. For example, theUE 115-a may determine the duration of the idle timer based on one ormore parameters (e.g., configurable parameters). As an illustrativeexample, the duration of the idle timer may be identified based on ascaling parameter, a duration of the inactivity timer, one or morestatuses of the UE 115-a (e.g., display statuses or battery statuses), alaunch state of an application of the UE 115-a, or any combinationthereof. As one illustrative example, the UE 115-a may scale a durationof the inactivity timer by the scaling parameter to obtain a candidateduration for the idle timer and the UE may compare the candidateduration to a maximum duration (e.g., a configurable durationcorresponding to one or more statuses of the UE 115-a). The UE 115-a maydetermine the duration based on the comparison (e.g., the UE 115-a mayuse a smaller value between the candidate duration and the maximumduration as the duration of the idle timer. As one illustrative example,the UE 115-a may calculate the duration of the idle timer using theequation idleTimer = min(α∗ datalnactivityTimer, T), where idleTimerrepresents the duration of the idle timer, dataInactivityTimerrepresents the duration of a configured data inactivity timer, αrepresents a configurable scaling parameter (e.g., configured by amanufacturer of the UE 115-a, configured by control signaling from thebase station 105-a, among other examples of configuring parameters), andT represents a configurable parameter (e.g., a maximum duration of theidle timer).

In some examples, the duration (e.g., length) of the idle timer may bebased on a display status of the UE 115-a (e.g., a smart phone displaystatus). For example, the maximum duration (e.g., T) may be a firstvalue if the display is on (e.g., T1) and a second value if the displayis off (e.g., T2). The second value may be relatively smaller than thefirst value (e.g., T2 < T1), which may result in a relatively shorteridle timer duration when the display status of the UE 115-a is off(e.g., disabled). Such a shorter idle timer may enable the UE 115-a toinitiate a connection release procedure (e.g., transmitting a UAIrequesting a connection release) relatively quicker when the display isoff, resulting in reduced energy consumption at the UE 115-a, or the UE115-a may initiate the connection release procedure relatively slowerwhen the display is on, resulting in more reliable communications (e.g.,the UE 115-a may maintain the communications link with the base station105-a for a longer timer period), among other examples. In someexamples, a display status of the UE 115-a may change while the idletimer is running. For example, the UE 115-a may adjust the displaystatus (e.g., turn the display on or off) during the duration of theidle timer. The UE 115-a may restart the idle timer, use a new durationof the idle timer (e.g., a duration of a corresponding display statusadjusted by an amount of time elapsed using the duration of the previousdisplay status), or both, as described herein.

Additionally or alternatively, the duration of the idle timer may bebased on a battery status of the UE 115-a. For example, a relativelyshorter time period (e.g., value of T) may be used if the battery levelof the UE 115-a is low (e.g., if the UE 115-a is in a low power mode),which may result in improved battery life. Alternatively, a relativelyhigher time period may be used if the battery level of the UE 115-a ishigh, which may result in relatively more reliable communications.

Accordingly, the UE may transmit a UAI message upon expiration of theidle timer, for example, if a timer T346f is not running (e.g., if thetimer T346f has expired or has not been initiated). In other words, theexpiration of the idle timer may be an example of a trigger fortransmitting one or more uplink messages 220 (e.g., UAI messages) aspart of a connection release procedure. Additionally or alternatively,the UE 115-a may transmit the UAI message based on one or more othertriggers, such as a launched state of an application. For example, theUE 115-a may refrain from taking one or more actions of a connectionrelease procedure if an application is open (e.g., in a launched state),which may enable more reliable communications associated with theapplication (e.g., an application with relatively low latencyrequirements or an application with a relatively high likelihood of datacommunications, such as gaming applications). The UE 115-a may initiatethe connection release procedure upon detecting that the application isclosed (e.g., the application is not in a launched state). As anexample, the UE 115-a may start the idle timer if the application isclosed and/or the UE 115-a does not have further data to communicate. Asanother example, the UE 115-a may allow the idle timer to run when theapplication is open, and the UE 115-a may refrain from taking an action(e.g., transmitting a UAI message) until the application is closed. Insome examples, the UE 115-a may determine the state of the applicationusing an application identifier (ID) (e.g., a modem can detect thelaunch state of the application using the application ID). In someexamples, a modem may include or be included in a communications managerwithin the UE 115-a, which may be an example of a communications manager715, communications manager 815, communications manager 905, orcommunications manager 1010 as described herein.

The UE 115-a may monitor for a downlink message 215 from the basestation 105-a in response to transmitting an uplink message 220. In someexamples, the UE 115-a may receive a downlink message 215 and releasethe connection in accordance with the downlink message 215 (e.g., an RRCrelease message). In some other examples, the UE 115-a may fail toreceive the downlink message 215 for a duration of the T346f timer. Insome examples, the UE 115-a may determine whether a quantity oftransmitted UAI message satisfies a threshold. If the threshold is notsatisfied, the UE 115-a may transmit another UAI message and restart theT346f timer, the idle timer, the data inactivity timer, or anycombination thereof. If the threshold is satisfied, the UE 115-a mayrefrain from transmitting further UAI messages based on the satisfiedthreshold, which may allow the UE 115-a to release the connection byallowing the data inactivity timer to expire (e.g., by refraining fromtransmitting UAI messages, the UE 115-a may refrain from restarting thedata inactivity timer based on sending a UAI message).

In some examples, the UE 115-a may enable or disable one or moreconnection release procedures based on the status of an application. Forexample, an application may signal status information (e.g., a status ofthe application) to trigger the UE 115-a to enable or disable one ormore connection release procedures. In some cases, the statusinformation may indicate a time interval (t) until a next datatransmission may occur, which may include indicating the time of thenext data transmission, a duration of time until the next datatransmission, or any combination thereof. Stated alternatively, theapplication may indicate the time to a next data transmission (e.g., anext traffic burst, a predicted data communication, among other examplesof data transmissions) associated with the application. In someexamples, the UE 115-a may determine whether the indicated time intervalsatisfies a threshold. If the threshold is satisfied, the UE 115-a mayenable one or more connection release procedures. For example, the UE115-a may transmit a UAI message requesting a connection release basedon the satisfied threshold, based on a T346f timer, an idle timer, adata inactivity timer, or any combination thereof. In some otherexamples, if the threshold is not satisfied the UE 115-a may disable oneor more connection release procedures and, for example, refrain fromtransmitting a UAI message requesting a connection release. For example,if the timer to a next traffic burst (or any data transmissionassociated with the application) is relatively small, the UE 115-a maynot send a UAI message to request connection release. Thus, the UE 115-amay implement logic to enable or disable a condition to send UAI asdescribed by the various examples described herein. Statedalternatively, the UE 115-a may enable a connection release procedure asdescribed herein based on a third duration (e.g., the durationcorresponding to a time until an uplink transmission for an applicationof the UE is communicated) satisfying a threshold (e.g., a thresholdduration associated with a latency condition of the application).

In some examples, the UE 115-a may use a common threshold for multipleapplications, the UE 115-a may use multiple thresholds for multipleapplications (e.g., different respective threshold for differentapplications), or a combination thereof. In some examples, a thresholdmay be included in the status information signaled by a respectiveapplication. For example, the application may indicate the threshold toa modem of the UE 115-a (e.g., a threshold associated with theapplication). Additionally or alternatively, a threshold of anapplication may be pre-configured at the UE 115-a (e.g., the UE 115-amay use a default threshold for one or more applications). In somecases, the threshold may depend on the application ID. For example,applications may indicate or otherwise be associated with respectivethresholds according to application-specific latency requirements. As anillustrative example, latency sensitive applications may correspond to arelatively large threshold (e.g., relative to latency tolerantapplications) to avoid a connection release between the UE 115-a and thenetwork. By using a relatively large threshold for an application, theUE 115-a may avoid releasing a connection which may improve latency ofcommunications associated with the application. Alternatively, by usinga relatively small threshold for an application, the UE 115-a may savepower by releasing a connection if the time to a next data transmissionof the application is relatively large.

In some examples, one or more applications may determine that multipledata transmissions are to occur at different time intervals (e.g., 10seconds and 20 seconds, though any interval of time may be used). Forexample, multiple applications may each have one or more datatransmissions (e.g., traffic bursts) and an associated time forcommunicating the data transmissions. In some such examples, the one ormore applications may aggregate the time intervals and indicate aminimum (e.g., smallest) time interval (e.g., 10 seconds) to the UE115-a (e.g., to a modem within the UE communications). For example, anapplication may aggregate (e.g., identify) all the times at which anapplication expects to communicate data (e.g., t(i) for an applicationi). The application may indicate a threshold time of the aggregatedtimes (e.g., a minimum time), such as the smallest time duration of theaggregated time durations, to a modem of the UE 115-a. By theapplications indicating a single threshold time, the UE 115-a mayexperience reduced signaling overhead relative to the applicationsindicating each of the aggregated times. Alternatively, in someexamples, the UE 115-a may receive the multiple time intervals anddetermine the minimum (e.g., smallest) time interval among the multipletime intervals, and the UE 115-a may compare the minimum time intervalto the operative threshold. The UE 115-a may determine whether theoperative threshold time interval (as indicated to the UE 115-a or asdetermined by the UE 115-a) satisfies a threshold. In some instances, ifthe operative threshold time interval satisfies one or more thresholds,the UE 115-a may enable one or more connection release procedures. Insome other instances, if the threshold time interval fails to satisfyone or more thresholds, the UE 115-a may disable one or more connectionrelease procedures and, for example, refrain from transmitting a UAImessage requesting a connection release.

FIG. 3 illustrates examples of timelines 300 and 301 that supportenhanced connection release techniques for wireless communicationssystems in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In someexamples, the timelines 300 and 301 may implement aspects of wirelesscommunications systems 100 and 200. Generally, the timelines 300 and 301may illustrate the implementation of idle timers 315 by a UE 115, whichmay be an example of the corresponding device as described withreference to FIGS. 1 and 2 .

The timeline 300 may illustrate an example of an idle timer 315-aimplemented when a display status of a UE is enabled (e.g., the displayis on). For example, the UE may communicate (e.g., receive or transmit)data 305-a and initiate the idle timer 315 at the end of communicatingthe data 305-a (e.g., based on identifying an inactivity period with nofurther data 305 to communicate). The UE may transmit the UAI 310-abased on one or more triggers (e.g., the expiration of the idle timer315-a, a launch state of an application, or a combination thereof). Forexample, the UE may transmit the UAI 310-a after a duration of the idletimer 315-a. In some examples, the UE may determine the duration of theidle timer 315-a based on the display status of the UE 115 (e.g., asmart phone display status). For example, the timeline 300 mayillustrate an idle timer 315-a when the display of the UE is enabled(e.g., the idle timer 315-a may have a duration of T1).

The timeline 301 may illustrate an example of an idle timer 315-bimplemented when a display status of the UE is disabled (e.g., thedisplay is off). For example, the UE may communicate data 305-b andinitiate the idle timer 315-b. The duration of the idle timer 315-b maybe based on one or more factors. For example, the duration of the idletimer 315-b may be determined based on the display status of the UEbeing disabled (e.g., the idle timer 315-b may have a duration of T2).As illustrated, the duration of the idle timer 315-b may be shorter thanthe duration of the idle timer 315-a, which may result in a relativelyshorter idle timer duration when the display status of the UE is off(e.g., disabled). Such a shorter duration may enable the UE to initiatea connection release procedure (e.g., transmitting a UAI 310 requestinga connection release) relatively quicker when the display is off,resulting in reduced energy consumption at the UE, or the UE mayinitiate the connection release procedure relatively slower when thedisplay is on, resulting in more reliable communications (e.g., the UEmay maintain the communications link with the base station for a longertimer period), among other examples.

Additionally or alternatively, the duration of the idle timers 315 maybe based on a battery status of the UE. For example, the timeline 300may illustrate an example of a longer duration of the idle timer 315-abeing used if a battery level is relatively high and the timeline 400may illustrate an example of a shorter duration of the idle timer 315-bbeing used if the UE determines that the battery level is relatively low(e.g., if the UE 115-a is in a low power mode), which may result inimproved battery life and/or reliable communications, among otherbenefits.

FIG. 4 illustrates examples of timelines 400 and 401 that supportenhanced connection release techniques for wireless communicationssystems in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In someexamples, the timelines 400 and 401 may implement aspects of wirelesscommunications systems 100 and 200. Generally, the timelines 400 and 401may illustrate the implementation of idle timers 415 by a UE 115, whichmay be an example of the corresponding device as described herein.

The timeline 400 may illustrate an example of adjusting a duration of anidle timer 415-a to a duration of an idle timer 415-b based on a statuschange (e.g., a display status change or a battery status change). Forexample, a UE may communicate (e.g., receive or transmit) data 405-a andinitiate the idle timer 415-a based on the display of the UE being off.Prior to the expiration of the idle timer 415-a, the UE may detect achange in the status of the UE (e.g., a display change from off to on).The UE may adjust the duration of the idle timer 415 based on thedetected change. For example, the idle timer 415-a may have a durationrelatively shorter (e.g., corresponding to a display status of off) thanthe idle timer 415-b (e.g., corresponding to a display status of on).The UE may implement the idle timer 415-b based on the detected changeof the display status from off to on (e.g., disabled to enabled). Insome examples, the UE may reset the idle timer 415-a and initiate theidle timer 415-b (e.g., the UE may refrain from transmitting the UAI410-a for an entire duration of the idle timer 415-b associated with adisplay status of on). In some other examples, the UE may use a “new”timer reduced by the time elapsed by the “old” timer. For example, theUE may refrain from transmitting the UAI 410-a for the duration of theidle timer 415-b reduced by the amount of time that the idle timer 415-awas running. Stated alternatively, the UE may extend the duration of theidle timer 415-a to the duration of the idle timer 415-b.

The timeline 401 may illustrate another example of adjusting a durationof an idle timer 415 based on a status change (e.g., a display statuschange or a battery status change). For example, a UE may communicate(e.g., receive or transmit) data 405-b and initiate the idle timer 415-cbased on the display of the UE being on (e.g., the idle timer 415-c maycorrespond to a display being enabled). Prior to the expiration of theidle timer 415-c, the UE may detect a change in the status of the UE(e.g., a display change from on to off). The UE may adjust the durationof the idle timer 415 based on the detected change. For example, theidle timer 415-c may have a duration relatively longer (e.g.,corresponding to a display status of on) than the idle timer 415-d(e.g., corresponding to a display status of off). The UE may implementthe idle timer 415-d based on the detected change of the display statusfrom on to off (e.g., enabled to disabled). In some examples, the UE mayreset the idle timer 415-c and initiate the idle timer 415-d from thepoint that the status change was detected (e.g., the UE may refrain fromtransmitting the UAI 410-b for an entire duration of the idle timer415-d starting at the “display off” point of the timeline 401). In someother examples, the UE may switch to the idle timer 415-d. For example,the UE may refrain from transmitting the UAI 410-b for the duration ofthe idle timer 415-d starting from the initiation of the idle timer415-c. In some examples, the duration of the idle timer 415-dcorresponding to the off display state may have expired prior to thechange in the display status to off. In such examples, the UE maytransmit the UAI 410-b based on the expiration of the idle timer 415-d,among other examples of triggers (e.g., in addition or alternative to anapplication launch state).

Additionally or alternatively, the duration of the idle timers 415 maybe based on a battery status of the UE (e.g., the display status changesmay additionally or alternatively represent battery status changes froma relatively high battery status to a relatively low battery status), asdescribed herein.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a timeline 500 that supports enhancedconnection release techniques for wireless communications systems inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In some examples, thetimeline 500 implement aspects of wireless communications systems 100and 200. Generally, the timeline 500 may illustrate an exampleimplementation of one or more timers for a connection release procedurethat supports coexistence of a data inactivity timer and an idle timer,as described herein.

The timeline 500 may include data 505, which may illustrate an exampleof a data communication between a UE and a base station as describedherein. For example, the UE may communicate (e.g., receive or transmit)data 505 and initiate the first timer 515-a and the second timer 515-bbased on identifying an inactivity period (e.g., the UE may identifythat there is not further data communications subsequent to the data505). The first timer 515-a may be an example of a data inactivity timer(e.g., configured via RRC signaling) and the second timer 515-b may bean example of an idle timer as described herein.

The UE may identify one or more triggers for transmitting the UAI 510-a,which may be an example of an uplink message requesting a connectionrelease as described herein. For example, the UE may transmit the UAI510-a in response to an expiration of the second timer 515-b, a launchstate of an application of the UE, or a combination thereof. The UE maytransmit the UAI 510-a to the base station and initiate a third timer515-c, which may be an example of a T346f timer (e.g., configured viaRRC signaling) as described herein. In some examples, the UE may restartthe first timer 515-a (e.g., the UAI 510-a may be identified as dataactivity and thus the data inactivity timer may be restarted upontransmission of the UAI 510-a), the UE may restart the second timer515-b (e.g., in addition or alternative to the third timer 515-c), orany combination thereof. The UE may monitor for a downlink message fromthe base station in response to the UAI 510-a (e.g., an RRC releasemessage) indicating to release the connection. As illustrated, the UEmay fail to receive the downlink message for the duration of the thirdtimer 515-c and may transmit the UAI 510-b based on an expiration of thethird timer 515-c. Additionally or alternatively, the UE may restart thefirst timer 515-a based on transmitting the UAI 510-b. In some examples,the UE may repeat such operations. For example, the UE may continue totransmit UAIs 510 (spaced according to the duration of the third timer515-c) and monitor for responses.

In some examples, the UE may determine that a quantity of transmittedUAIs 510 satisfy a threshold (e.g., a threshold of two UAIs 510 in thetimeline 500, although any quantity may be used). For example, if the UEdoes not receive a RRC release message after sending N (e.g., N greateror equal to 1, among other values) UAIs 510 indicating a releasepreference, the UE may refrain from sending further UAIs 510 (e.g., theUE may refrain from restarting the third timer 515-c and transmittingfurther UAIs 510 based on the satisfied threshold of N UAIs 510). Such athreshold may enable the UE to release the connection based on anexpiration of the first timer 515-a (e.g., the UE may autonomouslyrelease the connection upon the expiration of the first timer 515-a).The timeline 500 may realize one or more potential advantages. Forexample, the UE may be enabled to attempt connection release via networkcommand (e.g., via an RRC release message) while ensuring that the UEmay also use the inactivity timer after a quantity of attempts.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a process flow 600 that supportsenhanced connection release techniques for wireless communicationssystems in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In someexamples, the process flow 600 may implement aspects of wirelesscommunications system 100. For example, the process flow 600 includes aUE 115-b and base station 105-b, which may be examples of thecorresponding devices described herein with reference to FIGS. 1-5 . Theprocess flow 600 may illustrate the use of one or more timers (e.g., anidle timer) for a connection release procedure.

At 605, the UE 115-b and the base station 105-b may establishcommunications. For example, the UE 115-b may send a capability messageand the base station 105-b may send control signaling (e.g., RRC setupor RRC reconfiguration signaling) as described herein with reference toFIG. 2 . In some examples, the control signaling may configure the UE115-b with one or more timers (e.g., the control signaling may indicatea data inactivity timer with a first duration or the control signalingmay configure a T346f timer).

At 610, the UE 115-b may initiate one or more timers. For example, theUE 115-b may identify an inactivity period (e.g., a period without datato communicate) and initiate an idle timer (e.g., a second timer) with asecond duration based on the identified inactivity period. In someexamples, the duration of the idle timer may be based on one or moreparameters as described herein with reference to FIGS. 1-5 (e.g., one ormore statuses of the UE 115-b, a scaling parameter, the first durationof the data inactivity timer, among other examples). In some examples,the UE 115-b may initiate the data inactivity timer based on theidentified inactivity period.

At 615, the UE 115-b may transmit one or more uplink messages to thebase station 105-b. For example, the UE 115-b may identify one or moretriggers, such as an expiration of the idle timer, a launch state of anapplication, or both, among other examples of triggers. The UE 115-b maytransmit a UAI message based on the one or more triggers. The UE 115-bmay initiate or restart one or more timers (e.g., the idle timer, theT346f timer, or both).

At 620, the UE 115-b may monitor for downlink messages from the basestation 105-b. In some examples, at 625, the base station 105-b maytransmit a connection release message (e.g., an RRC release message asdescribed herein with reference to FIG. 2 ). In such examples, at 635the UE 115-b may release a connection in accordance with the receivedconnection release message 625 (e.g., the UE 115-b may enter an idlestate, an out of connected state, or an inactive state).

In some other examples, at 620 the UE 115-b may fail to receive adownlink message for a duration of the T346f timer (e.g., the basestation may fail to receive the UAI message, or the base station mayfail to decode or process the UAI message before an expiration of theT346f timer). In some examples, the UE 115-b may repeat steps 615 and620 (e.g., the UE 115-b may transmit another UAI message after anexpiration of the idle timer) until the UE 115-b receives a connectionrelease message or the UE 115-b determines that a quantity of UAImessages satisfies a threshold.

In some examples, at 630 the UE 115-b may identify an expiration of thedata inactivity timer. For example, the UE 115-b may refrain fromrepeating step 615 (e.g., the UE 115-b may refrain from transmittingfurther UAI messages) based on the quantity of UAI messages satisfyingthe threshold, which may enable the data inactivity timer to expire asdescribed herein.

At 635, the UE 115-b may release the connection with the base station105-b. For example, the UE 115-b may release the connection in responseto the connection release message as described above, or the UE 115-bmay autonomously release the connection based on the expiration of thedata inactivity timer.

FIG. 7 shows a block diagram 700 of a device 705 that supports enhancedconnection release techniques for wireless communications systems inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 705 may bean example of aspects of a UE 115 as described herein. The device 705may include a receiver 710, a communications manager 715, and atransmitter 720. The device 705 may also include at least one processor.Each of these components may be in communication with or otherwisecoupled to one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

The receiver 710 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to enhancedconnection release techniques for wireless communications systems).Information may be passed on to other components of the device 705. Thereceiver 710 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1020described with reference to FIG. 10 . The receiver 710 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

The communications manager 715 may receive, from a base station, controlsignaling for communications in a wireless communications system, thecontrol signaling indicating a first duration for an inactivity timer,initiate the inactivity timer and a second timer based at least in parton a period of inactivity, the second timer having a second durationthat is shorter than the first duration for the inactivity timer, andtransmit, based at least in part on an expiration of the second timer, afirst uplink message indicating a request to release a connection forthe communications in the wireless communications system. Thecommunications manager 715 may be an example of aspects of thecommunications manager 1010 described herein.

The communications manager 715, or its sub-components, may beimplemented in hardware, software (e.g., executed by at least oneprocessor), or any combination thereof. If implemented in code executedby a processor, the functions of the communications manager 715, or itssub-components may be executed by a general-purpose processor, a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed in the present disclosure.

The communications manager 715, or its sub-components, may be physicallylocated at various positions, including being distributed such thatportions of functions are implemented at different physical locations byone or more physical components. In some examples, the communicationsmanager 715, or its sub-components, may be a separate and distinctcomponent in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.In some examples, the communications manager 715, or its sub-components,may be combined with one or more other hardware components, includingbut not limited to an input/output (I/O) component, a transceiver, anetwork server, another computing device, one or more other componentsdescribed in the present disclosure, or a combination thereof inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

The communications manager 715 as described herein may be implemented torealize one or more potential advantages. One implementation may allowthe device 705 to more efficiently perform a connection release. Forexample, the device 705 may implement an idle timer (e.g., concurrentlywith a data inactivity timer) in order to reduce a time prior toreleasing connection, which may result in power savings at the device705.

Based on implementing the various timers and schemes as describedherein, a processor of a UE 115 (e.g., controlling the receiver 710, thetransmitter 720, or the transceiver 1020) may reduce a processingoverhead and improve communications efficiency at the UE 115 and/or abase station 105.

The transmitter 720 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device 705. In some examples, the transmitter 720 may becollocated with a receiver 710 in a transceiver module. For example, thetransmitter 720 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1020described with reference to FIG. 10 . The transmitter 720 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram 800 of a device 805 that supports enhancedconnection release techniques for wireless communications systems inaccordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The device 805 may bean example of aspects of a device 705, or a UE 115 as described herein.The device 805 may include a receiver 810, a communications manager 815,and a transmitter 840. The device 805 may also include at least oneprocessor. Each of these components may be in communication with orotherwise coupled to one another (e.g., via one or more buses).

The receiver 810 may receive information such as packets, user data, orcontrol information associated with various information channels (e.g.,control channels, data channels, and information related to enhancedconnection release techniques for wireless communications systems).Information may be passed on to other components of the device 805. Thereceiver 810 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1020described with reference to FIG. 10 . The receiver 810 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

The communications manager 815 may be an example of aspects of thecommunications manager 715 as described herein. The communicationsmanager 815 may include a control signal receiver 820, a timer component830, and a first message component 835. The communications manager 815may be an example of aspects of the communications manager 1010described herein.

The control signal receiver 820 may receive, from a base station,control signaling for communications in a wireless communicationssystem, the control signaling indicating a first duration for aninactivity timer.

The timer component 830 may initiate the inactivity timer and a secondtimer based on identifying the period of inactivity, the second timerhaving a second duration that is shorter than the first duration for theinactivity timer.

The first message component 835 may transmit, based at least in part onan expiration of the second timer, a first uplink message indicating arequest to release a connection for the communications in the wirelesscommunications system

The transmitter 840 may transmit signals generated by other componentsof the device 805. In some examples, the transmitter 840 may becollocated with a receiver 810 in a transceiver module. For example, thetransmitter 840 may be an example of aspects of the transceiver 1020described with reference to FIG. 10 . The transmitter 840 may utilize asingle antenna or a set of antennas.

FIG. 9 shows a block diagram 900 of a communications manager 905 thatsupports enhanced connection release techniques for wirelesscommunications systems in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. The communications manager 905 may be an example of aspectsof a communications manager 715, a communications manager 815, or acommunications manager 1010 described herein. The communications manager905 may include a control signal receiver 910, a timer component 920, afirst message component 930, a monitoring component 935, a downlinkmessage component 940, a second message component 945, an inactivitytimer component 950, an uplink component 955, a threshold component 960,a scaling component 965, a duration component 970, a display component975, a battery status component 980, and an application component 985.Each of these modules may communicate, directly or indirectly, with oneanother (e.g., via one or more buses).

The control signal receiver 910 may receive, from a base station,control signaling for communications in a wireless communicationssystem, the control signaling indicating a first duration for aninactivity timer.

The timer component 920 may initiate the inactivity timer and a secondtimer based on identifying the period of inactivity, the second timerhaving a second duration that is shorter than the first duration for theinactivity timer.

In some examples, the timer component 920 may initiate a third timerbased on transmitting the first uplink message.

In some examples, the timer component 920 may identify an expiration ofthe third timer.

In some examples, the timer component 920 may initiate the second timerbased on identifying that the application of the UE is closed.

In some examples, the timer component 920 may restart the second timerbased on transmitting the first uplink message. The second messagecomponent 945 may transmit a second uplink message indicating therequest to release the connection based at least in part on a secondexpiration of the second timer after restarting the second timer, anexpiration of a third timer, or a combination thereof.

The first message component 930 may transmit, based on the expiration ofthe second timer, a first uplink message indicating a request to releasethe connection.

In some cases, the first uplink message includes a UE assistanceinformation message, the third timer includes a release preferenceprohibit timer, the downlink message includes a radio resource controlmessage, the control signaling indicates the third duration of the thirdtimer, or any combination thereof.

The monitoring component 935 may monitor, for a third duration of thethird timer, for a downlink message from the base station based ontransmitting the first uplink message.

The downlink message component 940 may receive the downlink message fromthe base station based on the monitoring, where releasing the connectionfor the communications is based on receiving the downlink message.

The second message component 945 may transmit a second uplink messageindicating the request to release the connection based on the expirationof the third timer and failing to receive the downlink message in thethird duration of the third timer.

The inactivity timer component 950 may identify the expiration of theinactivity timer, where releasing the connection for the communicationsis in response to the expiration of the inactivity timer.

In some examples, the inactivity timer component 950 may restart theinactivity timer after each of the quantity of uplink messages.

The uplink component 955 may transmit a quantity of uplink messages eachindicating a respective request to release the connection.

In some examples, the uplink component 955 may refrain from transmittingan additional uplink message indicating the request to release theconnection based on identifying that the quantity of uplink messagessatisfies the threshold, where identifying the expiration of theinactivity timer is based on refraining from transmitting the additionaluplink message.

In some examples, the uplink component 955 may refrain fromtransmitting, in response to the expiration of the second timer, thefirst uplink message indicating the request to release the connectionwhile the application of the UE is open.

In some examples, the uplink component 955 may transmit the first uplinkmessage based on identifying that the application of the UE is closed.

The threshold component 960 may identify that the quantity of uplinkmessages satisfies a threshold.

The threshold component 960 may determine that the third durationsatisfies a threshold duration.

The threshold component 960 may enable a connection release procedurebased on the third duration satisfying the threshold, the connectionrelease procedure including initiating the second timer and transmittingthe first uplink message.

In some examples, the threshold component 960 may identify the thresholdduration based on an application identifier of the application, thethreshold duration corresponding to a latency tolerance associated withthe application.

In some examples, the threshold component 960 may identify, for aplurality of applications of the UE, a plurality of durations eachassociated with a respective time until a respective uplink transmissionfor a respective application of the plurality of applications, whereidentifying the third duration includes identifying a smallest durationof the plurality of durations as the third duration.

In some examples, the threshold component 960 may receive, at a modem ofthe UE from one or more applications of the UE, an indication of a thirdduration, an indication of the threshold duration, or any combinationthereof.

The scaling component 965 may apply a scaling factor to the firstduration for the inactivity timer.

The duration component 970 may determine the second duration for thesecond timer based on applying the scaling factor to the first duration.

The duration component 970 may identify a third duration correspondingto a time until an uplink transmission for an application of the UE.

In some examples, the duration component 970 may identify a maximumduration for the second timer.

In some examples, the duration component 970 may compare the candidateduration to the maximum duration, where determining the second durationfor the second timer is based on the comparing.

In some examples, the duration component 970 may adjust the secondduration for the second timer based on the change in the display status.

The display component 975 may identify whether a display of the UE isenabled or disabled, where the second duration for the second timer isbased on whether the display is enabled or disabled.

In some examples, the display component 975 may identify, afterinitiating the second timer, a change in a display status of the UE,where the display status corresponds to whether the display is enabledor disabled.

The battery status component 980 may identify a status of a battery forthe UE, where the second duration for the second timer is based on thestatus of the battery.

The application component 985 may identify that an application of the UEis closed based on an identifier of the application, where releasing theconnection is based on identifying that the application of the UE isclosed.

FIG. 10 shows a diagram of a system 1000 including a device 1005 thatsupports enhanced connection release techniques for wirelesscommunications systems in accordance with aspects of the presentdisclosure. The device 1005 may be an example of or include thecomponents of device 705, device 805, or a UE 115 as described herein.The device 1005 may include components for bi-directional voice and datacommunications including components for transmitting and receivingcommunications, including a communications manager 1010, an I/Ocontroller 1015, a transceiver 1020, an antenna 1025, memory 1030, and aprocessor 1040. These components may be in electronic communication viaone or more buses (e.g., bus 1045).

The communications manager 1010 may receive, from a base station,control signaling for communications in a wireless communicationssystem, the control signaling indicating a first duration for aninactivity timer, initiate the inactivity timer and a second timer basedon identifying the period of inactivity, the second timer having asecond duration that is shorter than the first duration for theinactivity timer, and transmit, based at least in part on an expirationof the second timer, a first uplink message indicating a request torelease a connection for the communications in the wirelesscommunications system.

The I/O controller 1015 may manage input and output signals for thedevice 1005. The I/O controller 1015 may also manage peripherals notintegrated into the device 1005. In some cases, the I/O controller 1015may represent a physical connection or port to an external peripheral.In some cases, the I/O controller 1015 may utilize an operating systemsuch as iOS®, ANDROID®, MS-DOS®, MS-WINDOWS®, OS/2®, UNIX®, LINUX®, oranother known operating system. In other cases, the I/O controller 1015may represent or interact with a modem, a keyboard, a mouse, atouchscreen, or a similar device. In some cases, the I/O controller 1015may be implemented as part of a processor. In some cases, a user mayinteract with the device 1005 via the I/O controller 1015 or viahardware components controlled by the I/O controller 1015.

The transceiver 1020 may communicate bi-directionally, via one or moreantennas, wired, or wireless links as described above. For example, thetransceiver 1020 may represent a wireless transceiver and maycommunicate bi-directionally with another wireless transceiver. Thetransceiver 1020 may also include a modem to modulate the packets andprovide the modulated packets to the antennas for transmission, and todemodulate packets received from the antennas.

In some cases, the wireless device may include a single antenna 1025.However, in some cases the device may have more than one antenna 1025,which may be capable of concurrently transmitting or receiving multiplewireless transmissions.

The memory 1030 may include random-access memory (RAM) and read-onlymemory (ROM). The memory 1030 may store computer-readable,computer-executable code 1035 including instructions that, whenexecuted, cause the processor to perform various functions describedherein. In some cases, the memory 1030 may contain, among other things,a basic input/output system (BIOS) which may control basic hardware orsoftware operation such as the interaction with peripheral components ordevices.

The processor 1040 may include an intelligent hardware device, (e.g., ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, a CPU, a microcontroller, an ASIC, nFPGA, a programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logiccomponent, a discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof).In some cases, the processor 1040 may be configured to operate a memoryarray using a memory controller. In other cases, a memory controller maybe integrated into the processor 1040. The processor 1040 may beconfigured to execute computer-readable instructions stored in a memory(e.g., the memory 1030) to cause the device 1005 to perform variousfunctions (e.g., functions or tasks supporting enhanced connectionrelease techniques for wireless communications systems).

The code 1035 may include instructions to implement aspects of thepresent disclosure, including instructions to support wirelesscommunications. The code 1035 may be stored in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium such as system memory or other type of memory.In some cases, the code 1035 may not be directly executable by theprocessor 1040 but may cause a computer (e.g., when compiled andexecuted) to perform functions described herein.

FIG. 11 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1100 that supportsenhanced connection release techniques for wireless communicationssystems in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Theoperations of method 1100 may be implemented by a UE 115 or itscomponents as described herein. For example, the operations of method1100 may be performed by a communications manager as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10 . In some examples, a UE may execute aset of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE toperform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, aUE may perform aspects of the functions described below usingspecial-purpose hardware.

At 1105, the UE may receive, from a base station, control signaling forcommunications in a wireless communications system, the controlsignaling indicating a first duration for an inactivity timer. Theoperations of 1105 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1105 may beperformed by a control signal receiver as described with reference toFIGS. 7 through 10 .

At 1110, the UE may initiate the inactivity timer and a second timerbased at least in part on identifying the period of inactivity, thesecond timer having a second duration that is shorter than the firstduration for the inactivity timer. The operations of 1110 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1110 may be performed by a timer componentas described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10 .

At 1115, the UE may transmit, based at least in part on an expiration ofthe second timer, a first uplink message indicating a request to releasea connection for the communications in the wireless communicationssystem. The operations of 1115 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1115may be performed by a first message component as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10 .

FIG. 12 shows a flowchart illustrating a method 1200 that supportsenhanced connection release techniques for wireless communicationssystems in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Theoperations of method 1200 may be implemented by a UE 115 or itscomponents as described herein. For example, the operations of method1200 may be performed by a communications manager as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10 . In some examples, a UE may execute aset of instructions to control the functional elements of the UE toperform the functions described below. Additionally or alternatively, aUE may perform aspects of the functions described below usingspecial-purpose hardware.

At 1205, the UE may receive, from a base station, control signaling forcommunications in a wireless communications system, the controlsignaling indicating a first duration for an inactivity timer. Theoperations of 1205 may be performed according to the methods describedherein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1205 may beperformed by a control signal receiver as described with reference toFIGS. 7 through 10 .

At 1210, the UE may initiate the inactivity timer and a second timerbased at least in part on identifying the period of inactivity, thesecond timer having a second duration that is shorter than the firstduration for the inactivity timer. The operations of 1210 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1210 may be performed by a timer componentas described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10 .

At 1215, the UE may transmit, based at least in part on the expirationof the second timer, a first uplink message indicating a request torelease the connection. The operations of 1215 may be performedaccording to the methods described herein. In some examples, aspects ofthe operations of 1215 may be performed by a first message component asdescribed with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10 .

At 1220, the UE may initiate a third timer based at least in part ontransmitting the first uplink message. The operations of 1220 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1220 may be performed by a timer componentas described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10 .

At 1225, the UE may monitor, for a third duration of the third timer,for a downlink message from the base station based at least in part ontransmitting the first uplink message. The operations of 1225 may beperformed according to the methods described herein. In some examples,aspects of the operations of 1225 may be performed by a monitoringcomponent as described with reference to FIGS. 7 through 10 .

At 1230, the UE may transmit, based at least in part on an expiration ofthe second timer, a first uplink message indicating a request to releasea connection for the communications in the wireless communicationssystem. The operations of 1230 may be performed according to the methodsdescribed herein. In some examples, aspects of the operations of 1230may be performed by a first message component as described withreference to FIGS. 7 through 10 .

It should be noted that the methods described herein describe possibleimplementations, and that the operations and the steps may be rearrangedor otherwise modified and that other implementations are possible.Further, aspects from two or more of the methods may be combined.

The following provides an overview of aspects of the present disclosure:

Aspect 1: A method for wireless communications at a UE, comprising:receiving, from a base station, control signaling for communications ina wireless communications system, the control signaling indicating afirst duration for an inactivity timer; initiating the inactivity timerand a second timer based at least in part on a period of inactivity, thesecond timer having a second duration that is shorter than the firstduration for the inactivity timer; and transmitting, based at least inpart on an expiration of the second timer, a first uplink messageindicating a request to release a connection for the communications inthe wireless communications system.

Aspect 2: The method of aspect 1, further comprising: initiating a thirdtimer based at least in part on transmitting the first uplink message;and monitoring, for a third duration of the third timer, for a downlinkmessage from the base station based at least in part on transmitting thefirst uplink message.

Aspect 3: The method of aspect 2, further comprising: receiving thedownlink message from the base station based at least in part on themonitoring; and releasing the connection for the communications based atleast in part on receiving the downlink message.

Aspect 4: The method of aspect 2, further comprising: identifying anexpiration of the third timer; and transmitting a second uplink messageindicating the request to release the connection based at least in parton the expiration of the third timer and failing to receive the downlinkmessage in the third duration of the third timer.

Aspect 5: The method of any of aspects 2 through 4, wherein the firstuplink message comprises a UE assistance information message, the thirdtimer comprises a release preference prohibit timer, the downlinkmessage comprises a radio resource control message, the controlsignaling indicates the third duration of the third timer, or anycombination thereof.

Aspect 6: The method of any of aspects 1 through 5, further comprising:identifying an expiration of the inactivity timer; and releasing theconnection for the communications in response to the expiration of theinactivity timer.

Aspect 7: The method of aspect 6, further comprising: transmitting aquantity of uplink messages each indicating a respective request torelease the connection; restarting the inactivity timer after each ofthe quantity of uplink messages; identifying that the quantity of uplinkmessages satisfies a threshold; and refraining from transmitting anadditional uplink message indicating the request to release theconnection based at least in part on identifying that the quantity ofuplink messages satisfies the threshold, wherein identifying theexpiration of the inactivity timer is based at least in part onrefraining from transmitting the additional uplink message.

Aspect 8: The method of any of aspects 1 through 7, further comprising:restarting the second timer based at least in part on transmitting thefirst uplink message; and transmitting a second uplink messageindicating the request to release the connection based at least in parton a second expiration of the second timer after restarting the secondtimer, an expiration of a third timer, or a combination thereof.

Aspect 9: The method of any of aspects 1 through 8, further comprising:applying a scaling factor to the first duration for the inactivitytimer; and determining the second duration for the second timer based atleast in part on applying the scaling factor to the first duration.

Aspect 10: The method of aspect 9, wherein applying the scaling factorto the first duration yields a candidate duration for the second timer,the method further comprising: identifying a maximum duration for thesecond timer; and comparing the candidate duration to the maximumduration, wherein determining the second duration for the second timeris based at least in part on the comparing.

Aspect 11: The method of any of aspects 1 through 10, furthercomprising: identifying whether a display of the UE is enabled ordisabled, wherein the second duration for the second timer is based atleast in part on whether the display is enabled or disabled.

Aspect 12: The method of aspect 11, further comprising: identifying,after initiating the second timer, a change in a display status of theUE, wherein the display status corresponds to whether the display isenabled or disabled; and adjusting the second duration for the secondtimer based at least in part on the change in the display status.

Aspect 13: The method of any of aspects 1 through 12, furthercomprising: identifying a status of a battery for the UE, wherein thesecond duration for the second timer is based at least in part on thestatus of the battery.

Aspect 14: The method of any of aspects 1 through 13, furthercomprising: identifying that an application of the UE is closed based atleast in part on an identifier of the application; and releasing theconnection based at least in part on identifying that the application ofthe UE is closed.

Aspect 15: The method of aspect 14, wherein initiating the second timeris based at least in part on identifying that the application of the UEis closed.

Aspect 16: The method of any of aspects 14 through 15, furthercomprising: refraining from transmitting, in response to the expirationof the second timer, the first uplink message indicating the request torelease the connection while the application of the UE is open; andtransmitting the first uplink message based at least in part onidentifying that the application of the UE is closed.

Aspect 17: The method of any of aspects 1 through 16, furthercomprising: identifying a third duration corresponding to a time untilan uplink transmission for an application of the UE; determining thatthe third duration satisfies a threshold duration; and enabling aconnection release procedure based at least in part on the thirdduration satisfying the threshold duration, the connection releaseprocedure comprising initiating the second timer and transmitting thefirst uplink message.

Aspect 18: The method of aspect 17, further comprising: identifying thethreshold duration based at least in part on an application identifierof the application, the threshold duration corresponding to a latencytolerance associated with the application.

Aspect 19: The method of aspect 18, further comprising: identifying, fora plurality of applications of the UE, a plurality of durations eachassociated with a respective time until a respective uplink transmissionfor a respective application of the plurality of applications, whereinidentifying the third duration comprises identifying a smallest durationof the plurality of durations as the third duration.

Aspect 20: The method of any of aspects 17 through 19, furthercomprising: receiving, at a modem of the UE from one or moreapplications of the UE, an indication of the third duration, anindication of the threshold duration, or any combination thereof.

Aspect 21: An apparatus for wireless communications at a UE, comprisingat least one processor; memory coupled with the at least one processor;and instructions stored in the memory and executable by the at least oneprocessor to cause the apparatus to perform a method of any of aspects 1through 20.

Aspect 22: An apparatus for wireless communications at a UE, comprisingat least one means for performing a method of any of aspects 1 through20.

Aspect 23: A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code forwireless communications at a UE, the code comprising instructionsexecutable by at least one processor to perform a method of any ofaspects 1 through 20.

Although aspects of an LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NR system may bedescribed for purposes of example, and LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NRterminology may be used in much of the description, the techniquesdescribed herein are applicable beyond LTE, LTE-A, LTE-A Pro, or NRnetworks. For example, the described techniques may be applicable tovarious other wireless communications systems such as Ultra MobileBroadband (UMB), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, Flash-OFDM, aswell as other systems and radio technologies not explicitly mentionedherein.

Information and signals described herein may be represented using any ofa variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data,instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chipsthat may be referenced throughout the description may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

The various illustrative blocks and components described in connectionwith the disclosure herein may be implemented or performed with ageneral-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, a CPU, an FPGA or otherprogrammable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform thefunctions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be amicroprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be anyprocessor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processormay also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., acombination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, oneor more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any othersuch configuration).

The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, softwareexecuted by a processor, or any combination thereof. Software shall beconstrued broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, codesegments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules,applications, software applications, software packages, routines,subroutines, objects, executables, threads of execution, procedures, andfunctions, whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware,microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise. If implementedin software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored on ortransmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Other examples and implementations are withinthe scope of the disclosure and appended claims. For example, due to thenature of software, functions described herein may be implemented usingsoftware executed by a processor, hardware, hardwiring, or combinationsof any of these. Features implementing functions may also be physicallylocated at various positions, including being distributed such thatportions of functions are implemented at different physical locations.

Computer-readable media includes both non-transitory computer storagemedia and communication media including any medium that facilitatestransfer of a computer program from one place to another. Anon-transitory storage medium may be any available medium that may beaccessed by a general-purpose or special purpose computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, non-transitory computer-readable media mayinclude RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flashmemory, phase change memory, compact disk (CD) ROM or other optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or anyother non-transitory medium that may be used to carry or store desiredprogram code means in the form of instructions or data structures andthat may be accessed by a general-purpose or special-purpose computer,or a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. Also, any connectionis properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if thesoftware is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote sourceusing a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digitalsubscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio,and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair,DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave areincluded in the definition of computer-readable medium. Disk and disc,as used herein, include CD, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatiledisc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks usually reproducedata magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers.Combinations of the above are also included within the scope ofcomputer-readable media.

As used herein, including in the claims, “or” as used in a list of items(e.g., a list of items prefaced by a phrase such as “at least one of” or“one or more of”) indicates an inclusive list such that, for example, alist of at least one of A, B, or C means A or B or C or AB or AC or BCor ABC (i.e., A and B and C). Also, as used herein, the phrase “basedon” shall not be construed as a reference to a closed set of conditions.For example, an example step that is described as “based on condition A”may be based on both a condition A and a condition B without departingfrom the scope of the present disclosure. In other words, as usedherein, the phrase “based on” shall be construed in the same manner asthe phrase “based at least in part on.” As used herein, the term“and/or,” when used in a list of two or more items, means that any oneof the listed items can be employed by itself, or any combination of twoor more of the listed items can be employed. For example, if acomposition is described as containing components A, B, and/or C, thecomposition can contain A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B incombination; A and C in combination; B and C in combination; or A, B,and C in combination.

In the appended figures, similar components or features may have thesame reference label. Further, various components of the same type maybe distinguished by following the reference label by a dash and a secondlabel that distinguishes among the similar components. If just the firstreference label is used in the specification, the description isapplicable to any one of the similar components having the same firstreference label irrespective of the second reference label, or othersubsequent reference label.

The description set forth herein, in connection with the appendeddrawings, describes example configurations and does not represent allthe examples that may be implemented or that are within the scope of theclaims. The term “example” used herein means “serving as an example,instance, or illustration,” and not “preferred” or “advantageous overother examples.” The detailed description includes specific details forthe purpose of providing an understanding of the described techniques.These techniques, however, may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, known structures and devices are shown inblock diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the concepts of thedescribed examples.

The description herein is provided to enable a person having ordinaryskill in the art to make or use the disclosure. Various modifications tothe disclosure will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in theart, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to othervariations without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Thus, thedisclosure is not limited to the examples and designs described herein,but is to be accorded the broadest scope consistent with the principlesand novel features disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a base station, control signaling for communications in a wireless communications system, the control signaling indicating a first duration for an inactivity timer; initiating the inactivity timer and a second timer based at least in part on a period of inactivity, wherein the second timer has a second duration that is based at least in part on the first duration for the inactivity timer; and releasing a connection for the communications in the wireless communications system based at least in part on an expiration of the second timer.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, in response to the expiration of the second timer, a first uplink message indicating a request to release the connection, wherein releasing the connection is based at least in part on transmission of the first uplink message.
 3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: initiating a third timer in response to transmitting the first uplink message, wherein releasing the connection is based at least in part on an expiration of the third timer.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the second timer comprises an idle timer and the third timer comprises a release preference prohibit timer.
 5. The method of claim 3, further comprising: identifying the expiration of the third timer; and transmitting a second uplink message indicating a request to release the connection based at least in part on the expiration of the third timer and failing to receive a downlink message during a third duration of the third timer.
 6. The method of claim 2, further comprising: initiating a third timer in response to transmitting the first uplink message; monitoring, for a third duration of the third timer, for a downlink message from the base station; and receiving a downlink message from the base station during a third duration of the third timer, wherein releasing the connection is based at least in part on receiving the downlink message.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein releasing the connection comprises: autonomously releasing the connection based at least in part on an expiration of the inactivity timer and the expiration of the second timer.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein autonomously releasing the connection is based at least in part on failing to receive a downlink message during the second duration of the second timer.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein autonomously releasing the connection based at least in part on the expiration of the inactivity timer and the expiration of the second timer comprises: autonomously releasing, after the expiration of the second timer, the connection based at least in part on the expiration of the inactivity timer and the second timer being expired.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising: refraining from transmitting, in response to the expiration of the second timer, a first uplink message indicating a request to release the connection while an application of the UE is open; and identifying that the application of the UE is closed based at least in part on an identifier of the application, wherein releasing the connection is based at least in part on identifying that the application of the UE is closed.
 11. An apparatus for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), comprising: at least one processor; and memory coupled with the at least one processor, the memory storing instructions executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: receive, from a base station, control signaling for communications in a wireless communications system, the control signaling indicating a first duration for an inactivity timer; initiate the inactivity timer and a second timer based at least in part on a period of inactivity, wherein the second timer has a second duration that is based at least in part on the first duration for the inactivity timer; and release a connection for the communications in the wireless communications system based at least in part on an expiration of the second timer.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: transmit, in response to the expiration of the second timer, a first uplink message indicating a request to release the connection, wherein releasing the connection is based at least in part on transmission of the first uplink message.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: initiate a third timer in response to transmitting the first uplink message, wherein releasing the connection is based at least in part on an expiration of the third timer.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the second timer comprises an idle timer and the third timer comprises a release preference prohibit timer.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: identify the expiration of the third timer; and transmit a second uplink message indicating a request to release the connection based at least in part on the expiration of the third timer and failing to receive a downlink message during a third duration of the third timer.
 16. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the instructions are further executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: initiate a third timer in response to transmitting the first uplink message; monitor, for a third duration of the third timer, for a downlink message from the base station; and receive a downlink message from the base station during a third duration of the third timer, wherein releasing the connection for the communications is based at least in part on receiving the downlink message.
 17. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein, to release the connection, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: autonomously release the connection based at least in part on an expiration of the inactivity timer and the expiration of the second timer.
 18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to autonomously release the connection based at least in part on failing to receive a downlink message during the second duration of the second timer.
 19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein, to autonomously release the connection based at least in part on the expiration of the inactivity timer and the expiration of the second timer, the instructions are executable by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus to: autonomously release, after the expiration of the second timer, the connection based at least in part on the expiration of the inactivity timer and the second timer being expired.
 20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing code for wireless communications at a user equipment (UE), the code comprising instructions executable by a processor to: receive, from a base station, control signaling for communications in a wireless communications system, the control signaling indicating a first duration for an inactivity timer; initiate the inactivity timer and a second timer based at least in part on a period of inactivity, wherein the second timer has a second duration that is based at least in part on the first duration for the inactivity timer; and releasing a connection for the communications in the wireless communications system based at least in part on an expiration of the second timer. 